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Vancouver Foundation's Open Licensing Policy is intended to promote sector-wide sharing of knowledge and ideas. Feel free to download, share, explore, and remix these resources. If you have questions, suggestions or recommendations about these materials, please let us know at open@...

What will be licensed under this Policy?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Starting January 1st, 2017, grantees who apply for and receive project funding though Vancouver Foundation's Field of Interest grant making program are required to add a CC BY 4.0 open license to the materials they produce as a result of our funding. Examples of works a grantee might produce could...

Who will be required to use open licenses under this policy?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Starting January 1st, 2017, grantees who apply for and receive project funding though Vancouver Foundation's Field of Interest grant making program are required to add a CC BY 4.0 open license to the materials they produce as a result of our funding. Support will be provided to grantees in the form...

What types of open licenses are available to use?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Vancouver Foundation’s default Policy license is CC BY 4.0 (Attribution). Creative Common's CC BY 4.0 license requires you to give credit to the original author of any work that contains this license. This is what is meant by the term Attribution. Anyone who uses a work with this license attached...

What does an open license look like?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Vancouver Foundation is the author of the text on this page. We have added an open license that describes how this text content may be used by others (for example, other foundations or funders who want to create an open licensing policy). The Creative Commons open license for this page looks like...

What does this mean for grantees that have other funders with an open access and/or open data policy? This is common with research funders.

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Grantees who are subject to other sharing requirements such as open access or open data by other funders are not required, but are welcome, to add Creative Commons licenses to their works.

What about projects that have been ongoing, and Vancouver Foundation is coming in as a funder later in the project’s progress? Does the policy retroactively apply to what was created previously in the project?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

No, the policy does not apply to materials created previously in a project before Vancouver Foundation became a funder. Vancouver Foundation’s open licensing policy covers work or materials funded in whole or in part by Vancouver Foundation grants. It does not extend to whole projects or other work...

In the case where Vancouver Foundation only funds a portion of a grantee’s project, does the open licensing policy apply to specific materials, the whole project, or the whole organization?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Vancouver Foundation’s open licensing policy covers work or materials funded in whole or in part by Vancouver Foundation grants. It does not extend to whole projects or other work produced by an organization. When applying for funding from Vancouver Foundation, applicants should be specific about...

What does this mean for grantees who started the application process before January 2017?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

The open licensing policy currently only applies to Field of Interest grantees that started their application process after January 1, 2017. However, grantees are welcome to voluntarily adopt open licensing. Please let us know if you did at open@vancouverfoundation.ca

What is open licensing?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

An open license makes clear how a document, photo or other original work can be used by someone who is not the original copyright holder. It allows a copyright holder to grant permission for other people to use the material by adding special terms, called an open license, to the work itself. When...

Is this voluntary or a requirement? How can grantees get an exemption?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Grantees must accept the terms of the open licensing policy when accepting funding through Vancouver Foundation’s Field of Interest Grant program. However, Vancouver Foundation recognizes that not all materials created by grantees will be appropriate to openly license. Grantees have the option to...

What does this mean for grantees who receive Vancouver Foundation funding outside of Field of Interest Grants (e.g. Neighbourhood Small Grants)?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

The open licensing policy currently only applies to Field of Interest grantees. However, grantees are welcome to voluntarily adopt open licensing. Please let us know if you did at open@vancouverfoundation.ca

What do existing grantees say about open licensing?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Some grantees already provide open licenses to their work. The Neil Squire Society is releasing new assistive technologies open source, as well as curating other open source solutions that can have an impact for people with disabilities. By working in the open, we welcome skilled volunteers to...

What if Vancouver Foundation’s Open License requirement for grantees isn’t sufficient to create systemic change?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

We know that no one policy or practice is sufficient to create systemic change. Grantees are encouraged to explore additional ways to spread and scale their work. Open licensing is the piece of puzzle that Vancouver Foundation has chosen to focus on at this time. We encourage other charities, non-...

How does open licensing affect Field of Interest grantee’s projects?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Grantees who accept funding through Vancouver Foundation’s Field of Interest Grants program are required to accept the terms outlined within our Open Licensing Policy by indicating so on their grant agreement letters. Accepting the terms of the policy means that grantees will be required to take...

What is a ‘work’ or ‘material’?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

A 'work' or 'material' might be text on a webpage, an image, audio recording, a script, PowerPoint presentation, video, PDF, list or compilation of multiple types of content, such as a book or multimedia project. Any original work that can be recorded into a format that can be shared or distributed...

What is an open license?

January 16, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

An open license is a set of legal terms attached to an original work that acts as an extension of copyright law. The license can be a symbol, text description, hyperlink, or a combination of these that defines how an original work can be used and adapted by someone who is not the original rights...

What is Creative Commons?

January 1, 2017

FAQ

Answer:

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding the range of creative works available for others to legally build upon and share. It has issued a suite of legal tools called open licenses, which act as extensions of permissions in copyright law. Creative Commons licenses have...

Does this change the criteria Vancouver Foundation uses to make granting decisions?

January 16, 2016

FAQ

Answer:

No. This does not change how advisory committees will evaluate applications. Vancouver Foundation will not ask grantees to create materials that were not originally planned for in order to qualify for a grant. However, if a grantee produces materials that are beneficial to share, then grantees are...